


Can You Hear Me?

by elitejace452



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Battle, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Clint Barton-centric, F/M, Hurt Clint Barton, Hurt/Comfort, Mission Fic, Non-Canon Relationship, Trapped, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23357749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elitejace452/pseuds/elitejace452
Summary: During a mission, Hawkeye goes down hard.  While everyone can hear him, he can’t hear them and thinks he is going to die alone.  Are these his final moments?
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 6
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I absolutely adore Hawkeye, but can't seem to help but write whump about him! I’ve read soooo many good whump/torture/hurt&comfort stories about Clint and I hope that this lives up to the standard!
> 
> Non-canon because I love Clint and Natasha together. Also, un-betaed, so please let me know if you see any grammar or spelling mistakes.

“I’m almost clear here!” Clint spoke into the comm, louder than he normally would to make sure he could be heard over the chaos as he landed three arrows into the hostiles, killing them instantly. Tony had dropped him off on top of one of the towers before flying off since Clint was best when he had a perch. It gave him the best view of the fight and helped him assist the others. Fury had assembled the Avengers to take down a hidden but still operational HYDRA base in the middle of the woods of Romania. The other five were spread out in the woods, taking down agents, and securing the delicate equipment held inside. Banner had Hulked out. The Hulk let out a ferocious sounding cry from wherever he was, several miles away from Clint. Steve could be heard, bullets tinging off of his shield as he neutralized hostiles. The HYDRA base was teaming with what seemed like an endless supply of agents that were well trained, but they were still no match for the Avengers. The six had been working for the better part of an hour to neutralize the base and the number of agents emerging had grown smaller and less frequent. 

“Same here!” Natasha chimed in as the sounds of agents groaning beneath her grew louder. Black Widow could hold her own in hand-to-hand combat like none of other. Her taser disks that Tony had amped up only made her even deadlier. Clint smirked to himself at the sounds of men hitting the ground came through his comm unit. He had been partnered with Natasha for a long time, but he never stopped admiring her unmatched fighting skills. She was one of the most dangerous people on this planet. 

“Victory is close!” Thor’s voice boomed out as he slammed Mjölnir down, throwing several hostiles. Clint thought to himself, maybe they’d even get home in time for a late-night dinner at his favorite New York restaurant. He was definitely looking forward to getting some sleep in the ridiculously comfortable mattresses that Tony had bought for everyone. He focused back on the mission at hand, taking out two agents that were advancing towards where Thor was fighting. He never missed, even when launching two or three arrows at a time. He had earned the name of Hawkeye for a reason. Hawks had vision eight times better than humans and Clint’s vision seemed to rival an actual hawk when he was picking out his targets. Suddenly, Clint’s entire world went sideways as a loud explosion shook the floor before it tilted and disappeared from beneath him. He grasped at the wall, terror gripping his body, but there was nothing to hold onto and he was sent flailing down as the whole tower collapsed around him. For a long moment, it felt like he was suspended in the air, horrified as he watched the sky get further away from him and then, he hit the ground with a sickening thud, pain exploding in every inch of his body, and then his whole world went blessedly dark. 

******

Clint sucked in a painful breath as consciousness rushed back to him. He let out a short, strangled scream of pain before he got himself under control and started to inventory his body. He definitely had a bad concussion. His head was pounding, and he was nauseous. Even with his eyes open only a tiny slit, the world was spinning around him and he closed his eyes to try to get the vomit rising in his throat to settle. He carefully flexed his fingers then his toes and was grateful that he could move them, even though there was a sharp pain that came with moving them. His right leg was a sharper pain than his left so he had a feeling that something was broken but there was nothing he could do about that in this moment. Clint wasn’t sure if he really wanted to address the horrid burning in his chest and stomach, but he braved opening his eyes again and took a glance down. He was horrified by what he saw when his eyes focused. There was a piece of rebar sticking up through the middle of his stomach. His next breath caught in his throat and he almost blacked out again. The pain surged to meet him, and his eyes rolled up for a minute before he took a shallow, shaky breath to steady himself. “Can anyone hear me?” Clint gasped out when he got his voice back together. The team would need to know that he was in trouble. 

“Loud and clear.” Tony was the first to respond, followed by Natasha, Thor, and Steve. The Hulk roared that he had heard. The invention of the comm unit that would work in the Hulk’s much larger ear had been a game changer in the past few missions, “Hawkeye?” Tony followed up a few seconds later when he didn’t get a reply from Clint. 

“I, I need help.” Clint grunted out between waves of pain as he squeezed his eyes shut to ground himself again. He couldn’t pass out yet, not before he made sure the others were on their way. “’m hurt.” He could feel the blood starting to pool underneath him, the dripping of new blood joining the puddle echoing in the dark cavern the rubble had formed around him. Clint had been captured and tortured so many times before that he couldn’t even put a number on it, but this was different. This type of pain was completely overwhelming and there was no break from it. There was nothing to distract him here besides the bloody, rusty rebar sticking through his body and the pain that was coursing through him. 

“You were still in the tower when it fell?” Natasha’s voice sounded calm to the untrained ear, but the others could hear the tiny warble of concern towards the end of the sentence. She was extremely guarded with her emotions, but when Clint was hurt, she sometimes struggled to keep those emotions under wraps. 

“Can y’all hear me?” Clint’s voice was a harsh whisper that held barely disguised panic. “I can’t, I’m gonna need some help.” A shudder ran through him as a cough made flames of pain erupt inside of his chest. He could definitely tell that he had some broken ribs. It felt like they were shifting around in his chest. On top of not moving because of the rebar keeping him in place, he knew that the more he moved, the more likely that one of the broken pieces would stab into one of his lungs and he did not need to add any additional injuries to the lengthy list. If someone would just answer him, he could tell them that he was at the bottom of the mess that was the tower and they would come get him. 

“We can hear you! We’re almost done. We’ll be there. We’ll get you.” Steve said in a comforting tone as he slammed his shield down on top of an agent wielding a sophisticated HYDRA weapon. “Clint?” He prompted, dropping the code name, when Clint didn’t say anything back. It was not like Clint to not answer unless he was unconscious. He was known for pulling a practical joke when they were in the Tower, but he was never one to play around on a mission. “Answer me, please.” 

“Does anyone have eyes on him?” Tony’s voice was fearful as he used his blasters to take down two of the drones that were firing at him as he flew higher above the compound. He whipped around and took out another one with a kick that sent it spiraling to the ground before it exploded in a fiery blast. His heart sank when he saw the mess of rubble that had been the tower that he knew he had set Clint down on. 

“No.” Everyone chimed in, giving quick glances around as they continued to take care of the HYDRA agents. There was a steadily rising level of panic inside of everyone when no one continued to hear from Clint. As much as they wanted to drop what they were doing to get their downed teammate, it wasn’t safe for them to stop. They had to complete the mission first before they could figure out what was wrong with Clint and save him. 

“Anyone?” Clint’s voice came through the comms again, smaller this time. There was a haunting slur to the word. No one needed to be told that something was grievously wrong with Clint for him to sound this way. “Please.” Clint added.

“We’re here.” Steve responded immediately. “Clint, where are you? How badly are you hurt?” As the leader of the group, the fact that one of them might be badly injured terrified him. He never wanted to feel that same crushing pain he felt when his fingers fell short of Bucky’s outstretched hands as he was torn from the side of the train ever agin. 

“C’n anyone hear ‘e?” Clint’s voice was fading into a mumble as his eyes fluttered closed. A shiver rocked him from head to toe. The ever-growing pool of blood underneath him was warm against his cold back except for the arch where the rebar held it off the ground. He could feel the blood leeching from the wound on his stomach around to his back, where it joined the other wound and dripped onto the ground below. He was no stranger to blood loss and knew at this rate, he was running out of time quickly. He knew he needed to keep trying to reach out to the team. 

“We’re here!” Natasha’s voice came out harsher than she meant for it to sound. “Can you not hear us?” The realization hit her like a brick wall. The fall might have damaged his comm unit’s receptors. He couldn’t hear them at all. He thought that he was alone.

“Pl-please, answer ‘e.” Cint’s voice had a tinge of desperation to it. No one was answering him, and he wasn’t sure he could get himself out of this mess alone. He coughed and blood splattered across his face and lip. He moaned once as the nausea returned with a vengeance and he couldn’t keep it down. He managed to turn his head as vomit came sliding out of his mouth. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of it. It had a metallic taste and smell to it. It burned like someone had poured bleach down his throat and left an awful taste in his mouth. He blinked a few times as he forced himself to stay conscious. All his body wanted to do was to black out and get away from the unbearable pain, but he fought it off, trying to ride out the crippling waves of pain. 

“We’re here!” This time it was Thor’s booming voice as he heard the archer retching on the other end. “Barton, we are here! We are coming for you! You will be okay!” His voice raising as if the volume would force his voice to reach Clint. “I have finished here. I shall begin looking for him.” He started spinning the hammer and took off for the collapsed tower. The others used the additional adrenaline rush to move quicker. The longer that they took, the longer it was until they got to Clint. 

“Guys?” Clint’s voice was garbled, and everyone knew that meant something really bad, even if they didn’t vocalize it. “Please.” Clint looked down again. The blood coming out around the rebar was bubbly. Every breath he was taking was getting harder to draw in. Another wet cough left blood dribbling down his chin. “I’m all alone, aren’t I? No one is coming?” He was startled by the lone tear that leaked from his eye. He wasn’t normally a crier but left impaled, in excruciating pain, bleeding to death, without the hope of someone coming for him was overpowering. 

“No, you’re not! We're coming!” Natasha growled out she slashed her knife across the last of the agents in her area. Even if he couldn’t hear her, she couldn’t stop herself from responding. “I’m joining you Thor!” She started sprinting towards the tower. She was not about to let Clint think he was going to die alone. He wasn’t going to die at all.

“Do th’se things s’ll record?” Clint pondered out loud. “If so, tell Na’sha I lov’ ‘er.” His slurring getting worse as he vomited again. He was so weak that he couldn’t even turn his head all the way and the vomit slid down his face and he gagged as some of it fell back into his mouth. He realized that the metallic smell from before was blood. Not only was he coughing blood, but he was also throwing it up, Clint thought to himself as he scrunched his brow up in disgust. The last round of vomiting had left him gasping for air as black dots danced in his vision. He could feel every pain in his body and wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He could feel his heartrate starting to slow as less and less blood returned to his heart to be pumped through his body. The others could hear every painstaking breath that Clint was taking and the sounds of him vomiting had brought sympathetic winces to their faces. This was the absolute worst-case scenario when it came to missions going wrong. 

“Do not say your goodbyes Barton!” Steve felt a burning in his eyes as he threw his shield towards the agents advancing towards him. “That was it for my section. I’ll be there in a minute!” He had never taken longer steps in his life as he raced towards where Natasha and Thor were throwing rubble aside as they searched for Clint. 

“He’s got to be here!” Natasha was flinging rocks over her shoulder as she looked for any sign of the archer. “Clint! Answer us!” She hoped that Clint could actually hear them and would give them a sign to make it easier to narrow down where he was located. “Clint!” She didn’t even glance up as Tony and the Hulk joined them after disposing of the last of the HYDRA agents. 

“Here!” Tony pointed to a spot after using Jarvis to heat search for Clint among the rubble. He didn’t bother to tell the others that there was a frightening blue hue with the normal reds, oranges, and yellows that people gave off. Natasha and Thor scrambled over the rocks towards them and they began to dig again. The Hulk took care of the bigger pieces, flinging them back over his head, letting them land with satisfying thuds several hundred yards away. 

“I, I’m not, gon’a l’st much long’r. S' 'uch blo'd.” Clint slurred out after a few minutes of silence, blood drooling over his lip with the words. His whole body shaking from the shock. He could hear creaking above him. If everything came tumbling down on him, it would kill him. Clint wasn’t even sure if he would mind that anymore. He didn’t think the team even knew he was in need of help and he could guarantee that he was not going to be here much longer. He couldn't deny that he had hoped he wouldn't die alone. “Been n’ce t’ be on a team.” Clint breathed out, still having no idea if anyone could hear him. Maybe it was nice to imagine that he wasn’t just talking to himself. “I, I don’t hav’ long.” He sighed, there was no denying the inevitable. It was just a matter of time now before death came for him and he honestly would welcome it, just to end the pain. “I’m sorry,” Clint’s eyes were fighting a battle to stay open but he knew that his vision was not all there because everything was swimming in front of him. He was never under any delusion that he was going to live to be an old man, but he did not imagine it would be this lonely and painful. God this was so incredibly painful. It was like every nerve in his body was on fire. He wished someone was here with him, talking him through until the end, helping ease his transition into whatever came next. There weren’t words to describe the pain that radiated from his chest, stomach, head, and leg. His only wish was that he could give Natasha one last kiss, breathe in the rose fragranced shampoo that she used when they were home one more time, and snuggle up with her for one more night. 

“We’re here, Clint.” The five on the outside answered in unison, not caring that Clint might not be able to hear them. They couldn't not respond, not even if there was a slim chance that Clint was able to hear them. The worst part was hearing Clint's pain and not being able to do anything about it. There was no comfort to provide when Clint couldn't even hear them. Steve had already called for the specialized medical unit that worked with them so that the second that they found Clint; they could get him the help he needed. They would be on the ground any minute and were prepared for anything. 

“Nat’sha?” Clint cried out as the very last of his strength was leaving him. He still had no idea where anyone was or if they could hear him, but he wanted to try one more time. “Love you.” His words were hushed, drifting into the emptiness that surrounded him, as his eyes close one final time. He knew that they wouldn't be opening again. He couldn't put into words how much he wished he could just see Natasha one more time. The pain somehow seemed to swell worse and Clint stopped fighting it. He let unconsciousness wash over him like water extinguishing a fire, taking the pain away as he drifted into the blackness. 

“Please!” Natasha screamed; her voice animalistic as Clint’s words stabbed at her heart. She could literally hear the breaths that Clint was taking were growing slower and shallower, an unsettling gurgle could be heard with each breath. It was like she was bleeding out with him. She was numb and ablaze all at once as emotions rippled through her like they never had before. “We’re here!” It felt like an eternity later when Thor and Steve lifted a ginormous piece of concrete off of the pile of rubble and they uncovered Clint, freezing in shock as they took in Clint. No one spoke up that the little space below was shaped like a coffin. Clint looked horrific. His face was so white, it was almost translucent. Blood was splattered over his face, resting on his closed eyelids, and covering his chin. Bloody vomit was next to his face and oozing down the sides of his face from when he had been too weak to even turn his head to vomit. Natasha thought that her stomach couldn’t drop any lower when she moved her eyes from his face to his body and then she saw it. There was a piece of rebar sticking up through the middle of his abdomen that had resulted in the sickeningly large puddle of blood underneath him. She risked looking down further and his right leg was bent at a ninety-degree angle in the middle of the calf. Natasha leapt in first, dropping next to his head and reaching out with a shaky hand to caress his face. “Wake up.”

“Is he, is he-“ Steve choked off at the end of his sentence because he couldn’t bring himself to finish it. Clint looked dead but he couldn't be. It wasn't his time. It couldn't be his time yet, but how could one person have lost that much blood and still be alive? He wanted to throw up as he looked at Clint. He felt like such a failure as a team leader, but he had to shove those feelings down for now. Clint was the priority. 

“Wake up.” Natasha’s voice was quivering as she stroked his cheek with one hand, smearing the blood. She braved moving her hand down to put two fingers on his neck and a choked sob came out. “He’s, oh my God, he’s still breathing.” She knew that didn’t mean that this was going to be a happy ending, but he had a fighting chance if he was still alive. He couldn’t even see “Where’s the med team?” 

“We’re here!” Dr. Cho was leading the group that was running up to them. She stopped in her tracks as she took in the gruesome scene before regaining her composure. “We’re gonna need your help to get him off the rebar.” She spoke to Steve before she jumped down next to Natasha. “Put this on him.” She handed Natasha a C-spine collar to put on Clint. Natasha took it, grateful to have something to do with her hands. She wrapped it gently around his neck, careful not to jostle him. An orderly handed her a few pieces of gauze and pantomimed that she could wipe his face off with them. “Do we have the bolt cutters?” She looked up at the medical team she had brought with her and one nodded as they slung the huge bag on their back off. Her team was specialized in working with enhanced individuals and being called to help with the Avengers, so she was used to bringing more than just band-aids and gauze. Once they were pulled out, she jerked her head over towards Steve. Steve didn’t miss a beat when the orderly handed the bolt cutters over to him and jumped in, waiting for further instruction. “Clint might have one tiny stroke of luck on his side here. You can slide the bolt cutters underneath him and we should be able to cut almost flush with his back. I’ve wrapped it enough that we can lay him on his back.” She said, mostly looking up at her waiting medical team, so that they would know how to get him onto the backboard they had waiting for Clint. 

“Got it.” Steve nodded as he was able to fairly easy slide the bolt cutters underneath Clint. Dr. Cho finished wrapping gauze around the front of the rebar and several protective layers around the back. “On three?” He looked up, got a nod of approval from Dr. Cho, and leaned down again to make sure that he didn’t accidentally cut Clint. “One, two, three.” Steve wasted no time in cutting the rebar and then there were orderlies sliding a backboard underneath Clint before lifting him up and out of the rubble. They carried him quickly down to even ground and got to work. Dr. Cho scurried down after them and the rest of the Avengers were quick on their heels. They hovered closely, wringing their hands nervously as they tried to stay out of the way. Two tears made their way from Natasha’s eyes as she watched them intubate Clint before she snuck in and grabbed onto Clint’s hand. Clint didn’t even flinch at the tube sliding down his throat. IVs were placed in each of Clint’s arms. One of the orderlies squeezed the bag of fluids that was hooked up on one side to make it go faster while the other got a bag of blood started to replace what Clint was losing. Two other members of the medical team wrapped more gauze around the wound, even though they were immediately soaked in red. 

“We need to get him to the jet, now.” Dr. Cho ordered. “Keep bagging him.” She spoke to the orderly who was pressing the bag providing air to Clint. Steve, Tony, and Thor stepped in to grab a handle on the backboard. The Hulk followed closely behind, knowing that he was too rough to touch Clint. Natasha just kept holding Clint’s hand, whispering things to him in languages that no one else understood. Dr. Cho held a small monitor in her hands, keeping an eye on the vitals it was reading off. His vitals were in the toilet but there was little she could do until they got Clint onto the jet and she could get the rebar out of his stomach. They walked as fast as they dared, not wanting to risk running and dropping the backboard. The terrain was too rough for a gurney. After they had been walking for a few minutes, Dr. Cho let out a shout, “He’s in v-fib! Put him on the ground and grab the paddles!” In a flurry of motion, there was more equipment produced and the Avengers were shoved away, even Natasha, who stumbled against Steve. Steve wrapped his arms around her, mostly to stop her from charging back towards Clint but also to give himself something to hold. It was like his own heart had stopped working. “Charge to 360! Clear!” She took the paddles and pressed them against Clint’s chest. Clint’s chest arched up before collapsing back with a sickening thud. She glanced over at the monitor next to her and sighed. “He’s back in rhythm.” The Avengers let out an audible collective sigh while Tony felt his legs go weak. He was all about teasing Clint, calling him every name he could think of that related to birds or archers, but Clint was a good man and did not deserve this. He did not want to imagine what this team would be like without Clint. 

“Don’t you stop fighting.” Natasha wiggled from Steve’s arms and knelt beside Clint once more. Her voice wobbly but strong as she repeated the words, “Don’t you stop fighting.” They hoisted the backboard up again and the clearing with the Quinjet loomed in front of them after a few more minutes. “Thank God.” Natasha uttered as several of the orderlies ran ahead to get the gurney. Clint was placed on the gurney and wheeled up the ramp, disappearing towards the surgery suite that was onboard. Dr. Cho and the rest of the medical team disappeared behind him. After all the hustle and motion, it was suddenly so quiet that a pin dropping would have been heard. 

“He will make it.” Thor announced. “Barton is one of the strongest mortals I know.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, saying nothing more. The others nodded their agreement. They had no idea of knowing if Clint would really make it, but they knew that he was never one to give up without a good fight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the bookmarks, kudos, and comments! Here's the conclusion chapter!

The waiting area was full of nervous tension as they waited for news about Clint. Tony thought he might explode if he had to wait much longer. He had never been a patient man but waiting to find out if Clint had made it or not was eating him alive. He couldn’t even think about how the emotions Natasha must feel, because if it was Pepper in there, he wasn’t sure he could have taken it. Natasha was sitting with her back straight and her eyes forward, but Tony could see a million emotions rushing through her eyes. Dr. Cho finally emerged from the surgery suite. She had taken the time to remove her bloody scrubs, something that everyone was grateful for. The thought of all of the blood surrounding Clint made them all nauseous. “He’s got a long road ahead of him, but he’s still here with us.” Various words of celebration went up from the waiting group. They had landed at the Avenger Tower several hours ago, but no one had left the jet, not until Clint was able to leave. Bruce had joined them again after they had gotten onto the Quinjet and was still subdued, as was normal after a Hulk-out. 

“What are we looking at?” Steve was the first to get his voice back, or maybe the first to be brave enough to ask. They knew this wasn’t like a normal mission injury that Clint would brush off after a few hours and walk away from. 

“Let me start at the top. He has a nasty skull fracture with an open wound. It took twelve stitches to close the wound. We’ve got him hooked up to an EEG to make sure there is no seizure activity. We’ll just have to wait and see if there is any brain damage. He had six broken ribs. One of the broken ribs went into his lung, causing some of the bleeding from his mouth. He’s got a chest tube in to drain what is left and help re-inflate the lung. He’s still intubated because we don’t think his body can handle it, plus he needs all the help he can get right now. The rebar nicked his stomach, large intestines, and tore through his left kidney. We’re worried about the intestinal tear since that allowed for bacteria to leak into the body. He’s on a high dosage of antibiotics and we will hope for the best. We cleaned his abdominal cavity out but there’s no way to know if we got every last bacterium out. His right leg was in rough shape. Tibia and fibula were broken and all the muscles on the inside of his right leg were torn. I’ve reset the muscles and bones, but he will need another surgery on his leg at a later point, if he is stable enough.” The use of the word ‘if’ did not go unnoticed by the crowd. 

“Can we see him?” Natasha couldn’t fight off two more tears as her hands shook in front of her. The blood had been wiped off, but she could still see it. She wasn’t sure if her hands would ever look white to her again. It didn’t even seem possible that this was real life and they had been waking up this morning, cuddling for a while before getting up and having their coffee. They had eaten breakfast before the final briefing on this mission. It felt like it had been a lifetime ago, but she would give anything to have those quiet moments back. This felt like a warped and horrific nightmare. She wanted wake up and shake Clint awake and lay on his chest so she could feel his heartbeat and calm her down. She didn’t have to worry about being vulnerable or emotional with him. He let his guard down around her too. It was why they were perfect for each other. This just had to be the worst nightmare of her entire life, which was saying something considering most of her nightmares revolved around her time in the Red Room. All she knew is that, she’d really like to wake up now. 

“We’re moving him to the medical wing in the Tower. Give us thirty minutes to get him hooked up to everything and then you can come see him.” Dr. Cho started to turn away, before hesitating and turning back to the group. “Clint is a fighter. We’re going to give him every bit of support he needs, but he’s never been one to give up.” She tried not to sound emotional. It was hard. She had been working with the Avengers for years and they felt like an extended part of her family. The five Avengers in front of her nodded their agreement. They would not be leaving Clint’s side. He would never be left alone again. 

******

“Hey baby.” Natasha whispered into Clint’s ear as she sat down by his head, reaching out and gently touching her knuckles to his cheek. She felt sick as she took in his face. Both of his eyes were swollen and blackened from the skull fracture. The tube that was giving him oxygen was strapped to his face, obscuring the bottom part of his face but at least all of the vomit and blood was gone. He looked so young when his face was this relaxed. She let her eyes drift down. The medical bay was kept warm, so Clint’s blanket was only pulled up to his hip bones. There was a tube from the side of his chest that had frothy pink blood coming out of it. The rest of his rib cage was wrapped in gauze, but the mottled black and blue bruises peeked through the layers. From his stomach to just below his belly button was the freshly closed incision. It was covered in a layer of clear Tegaderm so Natasha could see the glint of fifteen staples looking back up at her. His right leg had a metal brace holding it in place with two long incisions on each side. Clint would be sporting some big scars after this was all healed. 

“We’re here. We were looking for you the entire time. You just couldn’t hear us, but I promise that we never stopped looking until we found you.” She was not normally one to ramble, but she wanted Clint to hear her because she had no idea what he could or couldn’t hear in his sedated state. She wanted him to know that she was here for him. She talked about everything from the agents she had taken down to what she thought the base had been used for, keeping her voice quiet. The other four filtered in after about thirty minutes. They had respected that she needed to go in first and had given her some time alone. 

“Hey birdbrain.” Tony gently laid a hand on Clint’s good leg. “Ready for you to open those eyes.” He shuddered as he remembered what Clint had looked like when that concrete had been lifted off and pushed the thought away. He grabbed a chair and sat down towards the foot of the bed. He had told Pepper he would not be leaving Clint’s bedside until Clint was awake. She had told Tony that she loved him, she was here for him, and she would be by later. 

“I’m so sorry you couldn’t hear us, but we were there.” Steve was next to speak up. He also touched Clint’s leg before finding a seat next to Natasha. He settled with his elbows resting on his knees and his chin resting on his folded hands. He stared at the nasty surgical site, feeling a sympathy pang in his stomach. 

“We dug until we found you, Barton.” No matter how quietly Thor tried to talk, his deep voice always boomed louder than most. “We never gave up.” He stood over Clint, not ready to take a seat yet. His guilt was eating him alive. They should have dug faster. They were the Avengers and they should have found him before Clint got so bad. 

“You’re the big guy’s favorite. He wanted to get to you as fast as possible. He was never going to leave you.” Banner spoke up last. Everyone gave a small laugh at his first sentence. They knew that Banner wasn’t really in charge when the Hulk came out, but it was like sharing a mind, so he knew the Hulk’s thoughts and he was speaking the truth. Banner and Clint might seem like polar opposites, but they had been close from when the team had been formed. 

“We’re here. You are not alone.” Natasha repeated as she reached out and placed a light hand on Clint’s shoulder. It was providing her a comfort as much as it was to comfort him. “You are not alone.”

******

“I need you to keep fighting. You can do this. You are strong. You are so strong.” Natasha whispered. She didn’t want to wake the others up. It seemed like they were all finally getting rest for the first time since the mission. Steve’s arms were crossed, and his head was leaned back as he snored quietly. Tony and Bruce were both covered in blankets with their head resting on their chests. Thor snored loudly, sprawled haphazardly in his chair. None of them dared to leave the room. They had let the archer down once, but they were not about to make that mistake again. Meals were delivered to them and they all used the small bathroom inside of Clint’s room to shower and refresh. It was an eerie vigil. They spent most of their time with Clint making sure that the room was not quiet but never too noisy. They had all apologized over and over to Clint. Sometimes they read to Clint, keeping him up to date on the news. They had no idea what he could or couldn’t hear, but they didn’t want him to feel alone. 

******

“This isn’t what we wanted to see. He’s becoming septic. We’ve increased his antibiotics and are continuing to monitor him.” Dr. Cho wished she had better news as she looked at the latest lab results. Clint had started running a fever earlier in the morning. She caught Bruce’s eye. Bruce was not a medical doctor by trade, but he knew just how incredibly slim the chances were that Clint was going to pull through this. Clint’s body was failing him. Natasha stared at Clint’s face with a horrified expression. His face had somehow gotten more pale and there were beads of sweat forming on his forehead. 

“Feathers, you are not giving up on us.” Tony’s voice cracked before he pressed a shaking fist to his mouth. There were so many emotions in the room including devastation and horror that they might not be getting their teammate back. 

“You are a part of this team. We need you. You can’t give up.” Natasha’s words were so soft, they were almost lost in the whir of the ventilator that was keeping Clint alive. She wasn’t ready for Clint to go, not now. They had finally found their home. They had finally found a place where they fit in and were accepted. 

******

The first spark of awareness that hit Clint was that there was still pain, a lot of it. He thought that dying meant no more pain and it confused him. He wanted to open his eyes, but they were just so heavy. It couldn’t hurt to rest for a few more minutes now that he had forever, right? 

“Your heart rate is going up. I am really hoping that means you’re waking up.” Clint flinched. He knew that voice. Was Natasha dead too? He thought he was confused before, but this was even worse. “You’re in the medical bay. You’ve been sleeping for almost three weeks now.” Medical bay? Three weeks? Clint pondered that for a minute. Did that mean he was still alive? “Can you open your eyes?” Natasha’s voice prompted after a few minutes with no change. 

“I think his eyebrow twitched!” Steve had to refrain from shouting it with glee. His heart was beating so fast, he thought it might come out of his chest. This was the moment they had been waiting to happen for the last twenty days, five hours, and three minutes, but who was counting? There had a been a few terrifying days almost a week ago where Clint had almost slipped away, but he had managed to cling on. They had always joked with Clint that he was hardheaded, but they had never known just how true it was until he managed to pull through. Dr. Cho had deemed Clint stable enough earlier today to lessen the sedation. She had reminded them that it could take a while, but the team was willing to wait as long as was necessary. 

“We’re all here for you, Clint. We miss your quirky remarks. I would sure like to see you open those eyes. We’re here.” Natasha coached Clint as she stroked one finger on his cheek. The swelling in his eyes had gone down as his skull fracture had started to heal. The staples had come out of his stomach last week and the ventilator with it. His chest tube site had been stitched up and the bruises that had blossomed across his entire chest and stomach were starting to turn into shades of green and yellow. Physically, he was healing. It would be on Clint opening his eyes to tell them if there would be any mental damage. 

“Are you really here?” Clint rasped out as he opened his eyes slowly. He blinked to clear the sleep from his eyes as he found the faces of all five of his teammates surrounding him. He didn’t think he was ever going to get to see these faces again. He never thought he’d get to see Natasha again, but she was standing next to his head, looking just as perfect as he remembered. 

“We’re here.” Natasha’s voice was surprisingly steady as she touched his cheek. “You’re in the medical bay.” Steve handed her a cup with a few ice chips in it from the bucket near the bed. Clint’s throat had to be dry from being intubated. Natasha fed Clint an ice chip. Dr. Cho had reminded them that they would need to take any kind of nourishment by mouth very slowly since he had major surgery on his digestive system. Clint took it gratefully, sucking it until it dissolved. The coolness soothed his throat but also helped pull him into more awareness. He could tell from the cobwebs in his brain that he had been out for a while. He knew Nat said three weeks. He had never been under for that long before. 

“I thought I died.” Clint said with a tiny twitch of his lips, like he wanted to smile. “You guys could hear me?” He said after another pause. Everyone started talking at once, voices overlapping before Natasha glared at them and they all closed their mouths. Clint flinched at the noise, causing more pain to flare in his stomach and head. 

“We could. We came for you as fast as we could. We kept talking, even, even when you stopped talking.” There was a tiny warble in Natasha’s voice, but she kept pushing. “I’m sorry. You couldn’t hear us, and I cannot imagine how terrifying that must be.”

“Everyone needs to wipe the guilty look off their faces.” Clint pushed himself up, stifling a moan of pain as he did. He knew those looks that they all wore. They all felt some responsibility for this on some level. “You guys did nothing wrong. You came for me. I’m not alone anymore. You didn’t leave me. I’m here and I’m alive.” His voice gained strength. No one felt they could argue so they just moved so that all five had a hand placed on Clint somewhere. Clint made sure to give Steve a look, a look that portrayed all of the feelings that Steve should stop feeling guilty and that this was not on him. Steve gave him a tiny nod that he understood. Clint moved his hand to take Natasha’s. They were not normally one for public displays of affection but they both needed the comfort that it provided. 

“You are never alone Barton. We are always here with you, even if it’s here.” Thor pointed to his heart. 

“Thank you.” Clint said sincerely. He looked down again, wincing as he took in the bruised and battered sight that was his body. He could see he was hooked up to a few machines including several IVs and assumed that’s why the pain was not excruciating. “So, what’s the damage report?” 

“You’ve got a skull fracture, six broken ribs, a punctured lung, a laceration to your stomach, larger intestines, and kidney, plus your right leg is broken, both bones.” Natasha went down the list. She had had a lot of time in the past three weeks to go over the injuries in her head. 

“So, I guess I won’t be able to convince the doctor to let me go home tonight?” Clint half-joked. Natasha’s face darkened before she lightly punched Clint’s arm, not jostling him. “Hey, you’re not supposed to punch invalids!” He cracked his full, crooked smile with a real laugh, careful not to jostle his aching body too much. It’s all it took for the rest of them to break out into laughter. It turned into belly laughing for the five as Clint laughed gently along with them. It took almost twenty minutes for the laughing to die down and they all settled together. They flipped the television on to a comedy that they had all seen before. Everyone got comfortable, finally relaxed for the first time in three weeks. No one moved their hands from Clint’s arm or leg where they had placed them. Clint looked around after it had gotten quiet. He realized that everyone had fallen asleep, hands still on his arms or leg. The worry lines on foreheads were ironed smooth again, small smiles on their faces as they got the first peaceful slumber they had had since this nightmare began. Clint smiled as he felt his own eyes drooping. He still had a lot of healing to do, but he knew that he wouldn’t be doing it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended it here, but if there are enough requests, I would be down to add one more recovery chapter!


End file.
